I’d go again.

Isn’t that the main criterion? That’s how it used to be, the show was so good that you told all your friends and had to see every tour for not only the songs, but the production that you might not ever see again.

And believe me, this show is about production.

Actually, the show was a triple-header, starting with Lennon Stella, and then Five Seconds Of Summer, both acts the Chainsmokers have worked with.

The Forum Club was a cornucopia of boobs, both fake and real. Even more than when rock was down and dirty. It’s like everybody’s seen the movies, read the literature, and is acting out the fantasy for themselves. And it’s a whole new generation. Richard Griffiths was there, manager of 5S0S, and Rob Light, CAA represents all three acts, other than that it was a whole new crowd, in some cases barely legal. It’s like the old music business had been wiped out and a new one replaced it. And that’s what’s happening.

Now you’re aware the Chainsmokers have inhabited the top of the chart, but are you even paying attention to the chart? Never have so few been infected by the hits, today we can ignore anything.

But there is a scene.

So the Chainsmokers… One guy stands behind the synths, the other prowls the stage and the extended runway, and there’s a real drummer and…

A lot of lights, smoke, flash pots…every trick in the production book was in evidence.

What was not in evidence was charisma. Alex Pall is stuck behind the synths. And Drew Taggart jumps around like Gumby, like a cheerleader, there was no danger in this show, none of the edge of rock and roll, this was a celebration for fans, and they filled the Forum.

In an hour and forty five minutes, they did twenty nine songs. This was not the noodling of the acts at the Fillmore, or the latter-day jam bands, the numbers were short and sweet, at least relatively.

And there were covers. “Under the Bridge”? “Shout”?

And seemingly everybody who worked with the Chainsmokers was in attendance.

Well, not really. But Drew had a sense of humor about it, he said that Coldplay was not in the building, not there to perform their part in “Something Like This,” which has over a billion streams on Spotify.

But Lennon Stella was there for the opening number, “Takeaway.”

And 5SOS came out to do “Who Do You Love,” which was actually superior to any of the performances in their set, they were more energized

But the piece de resistance was the appearance of blink-182.

HUH?

I won’t give you the backstory, but Mark Hoppus came out to jump around with his bass, and Travis Barker pounded the skins and to tell you the truth I cannot fathom the absence of Tom DeLonge, but there was no doubting the energy during “P.S. I Hope You’re Happy.”

And Barker was one of the highlights, even though he was inexplicably facing away from the crowd.

You see earlier in the set the Chainsmokers’ drummer was on a riser in the middle of the arena and he played with…lit sticks, yup his drumsticks were on fire!

Now you’re starting to get the idea. The show was a weird combination of the circus and athleticism. Drew climbed a ladder and rode over the audience on a floating runway. Which angled to the point where you wondered whether he was strapped in.

And this big top ringmaster was surrounded by laser lights.

I’ve got to tell you, not being familiar with all the material, after about ten or fifteen minutes I started to fade out…how long do I have to sit here before it’s over?

But then the shenanigans ramped up to the point where you couldn’t look away.

The motorcycles…were they gas or electric?

And you couldn’t miss the cage, the sphere hanging right in front of the stage. Drew climbed into it, roamed around the iron, it seemed like kind of a waste, until…

Just before the show was over the motorcyclists came back out, all three of them rolled into the sphere and then…

I’ve seen this act before, but in a much bigger sphere. There was barely room for all three riders, one false move…

And then they brought out women and rode around them.

You had to tell yourself they wouldn’t crash, there wouldn’t be an accident, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing this, then again, the Wallendas fell.

And Drew is standing high in the sky, on a tiny platform.

And my eyes are scouring the Forum. I mean what exactly is going on here?

The girls behind me knew every word. Those in the pit were dancing. It was nothing like classic rock, the songs were confection, the only danger was in that sphere, it was a celebration of those in attendance, their lives, they went to relive the good times they’d had listening to this music.

So, the live business survives.

But it’s not like anything you’ve experienced before.

Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday November 25th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: LefsetzLive

Now what exactly was Scooter Braun’s crime here?

He made a business deal. Big Machine sold rights it held to Scooter, who had the money to pay for them. Done. Fair deal.

On the other side, you have Taylor Swift, who made a bad deal. Based on emotion, she left Big Machine for Universal, delivered a stiff record, is now trying to resuscitate it and someone must pay.

Meanwhile, Scooter observes the number one rule of social media, don’t respond, but then Swift’s activated fan base descends upon him to the point of threatening the lives of him and his family.

Welcome to 2019, where everybody feels as powerful as everybody else, where power is wielded by entertainers with social media followers as opposed to the rich. Where a President lies outright and is caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but not only does nearly half of America not care, there’s an entire news organization, never mind internet sites and social media, based on spreading untruths on his behalf and saying it’s no big deal. And you wonder why Taylor Swift is wielding her sword?

Let’s go back to Bill Clinton. If the President lies under oath, why should I tell the truth? Seems like in the past thirty years, no one is. Everything is up for grabs. Even life and death.

Tom Petty’s record company was sold and Petty insisted on concessions. Then again, Petty was poor, and was signed to a lousy deal with Shelter which was sold to ABC which was sold to MCA, the worst label in the business at the time. Petty declared bankruptcy and got a label, Backstreet, and an individual to run said label. Where in this process did Taylor Swift get screwed?

Taylor signed with Big Machine, which made her an international superstar. Big Machine owned the albums, which is standard industry practice. And then Big Machine sold its assets to Scooter. Nothing illegal here. As for morality…Swift knew Big Machine was up for sale, she didn’t insist the sale not be to Scooter, and was pissed after the fact.

But Swift can’t live with this. Because she’s supposed to be Teflon, she’s a pin-cushion of hurt. She’s stunned when the media turns on her. When other stars/celebrities turn on her. Not going to school, she does not know how to navigate the ups and downs, she feels like she should be protected, like all those kids who go to private school and have their parents complain to the administration that they’re being bullied. Do they call their parents when they get into a fight with a boy or girlfriend? Unfortunately, yes!

I mean come on, I don’t want to talk like a Republican here, but can someone take personal responsibility? I’m a big believer in tort actions, irrelevant of whether some of the attorneys are sleazy, but we don’t live in a strict liability world, where someone must pay for every loss. That’s life, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The game is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and play again.

As far as Scooter being the devil… If only Taylor Swift worked with some of the true criminals in this business. Scooter’s not perfect, but he does have a reputation for being artist-friendly. He didn’t buy the assets to screw Swift, they’re too expensive. He needs her cooperation. He can work without it, but it’s much better to align interests.

Furthermore, Swift wants to be immune to the career arc, where you’re hot and then you’re not, especially in today’s scattered, cacophonous internet world where you can release something great and it can still not flourish in the marketplace. You can play the game and lose. Then again, she’s got those royalties from all those old records. And she can go on the road based on that music.

But Swift screwed her fans with dynamic ticketing, never mind the shenanigans you had to pay for/waste time on getting the right to buy tickets. Do you think there’s not a hangover from that?

Swift misplayed her hand here, getting bad advice all the while, if she even listened to anybody. Any attorney will tell you she had the right to perform her old hits on the AMAs, hell, Scooter even admits that. As for synching with a Netflix show…she’s got no right to that, that’s a negotiation, how much does Big Machine want to receive in payment? They call it the music business, not music charity. Pay up, and Netflix can use ’em. Why should Swift get to use them for free, no one else does.

Karma is a bitch.

Taylor Swift refused to play nice with the industry. And when called on it, she developed a friend squad, which quickly abandoned her, then she enlisted celebrities to sing with her, who have been quiet, then she aligned with the LGBTQ community, which has not risen up in support for her…

But she does have her army of fans.

In a world where the average punter is uninformed or ill-informed and shoots up a pizza parlor, believing Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring there.

So what are the odds that Swift’s fans are aware of contract law, and what rights Big Machine does and does not have.

So Swift cries and says she’s gonna rerecord her music. Go ahead, hasn’t worked for anybody other than ancient artists doing this for synch purposes. She’s throwing a tantrum.

So now it’s come to this. Death threats. Will anybody really do it? Who knows? Ten per cent of the public is certifiably insane, and you don’t know which ten per cent it is! And kids do shoot up schools and there is gunfire and death at concerts and…

We have to be scanned at every public event, if not actually frisked, and they’ve got active shooter drills at schools.

Is this the society we want?

This is the society we’ve got.

Charlie Minor was shot to death. You don’t have to be on the front page to lose your life.

Meanwhile, Swift stays silent, to this moment, not calling off her dogs.

And Scooter’s impassioned plea looks completely reasonable, with a muted twist imploring Swift to start a dialogue and call off her troops. And what does Swift do? Remain silent!

This is her moment to be the bigger person. To go on national TV, Facebook Live, YouTube, harvesting all of today’s media and say of course she didn’t want this consequence, of course she’ll sit down with Scooter, of course she wants to resolve these issues, and she’s thrilled that Scooter wants to too.

Then she rehabilitates her image a bit. And can maybe salvage her career in the eyes of everybody but the Swifties.

You can have power, but you don’t have to use it.

She’s brought Scooter to the table, but you can read in his screed that he ain’t coughing up everything.

But he’ll cough up something. A victory for moral rights.

But if only we lived in a country of morality.

This almost didn’t happen. It was all set, but then Peter’s people said he had a hard out at ten to twelve and I didn’t think that would be enough time so I asked for an earlier start, and he canceled. Then I said the original start time would work and it was back on but it turns out that had nothing to do with it, the issue was whether the interview could be broadcast at Australian Music Week or not. Peter didn’t want it to be, Australian Music Week ultimately agreed, and it was back on the schedule.

So it happened at Studio 301 in Sydney. They don’t make studios like this anymore, with multiple rooms, even mastering. I get excited in places like this, this is the epicenter, this is where the music is made.

They had a museum of old equipment, an original Mitsubishi digital tape machine, never mind a bunch of Studers. Guitars even. They took me to every room, which I dug. Then we got to the big studio, the one that can fit orchestras, and in the control room, which was larger than most studios themselves, stood Peter Garrett.

I was intimidated. He’s six foot four something and has a bald head and he had to be out before noon and I figured he’d be recalcitrant, off-putting, but nothing could have been further from the truth!

Now I avoided Peter for the better part of ten minutes, if you converse before you start you risk leaving the best stuff in the green room, I’ve learned that, so they’re setting up the mics and it’s taking time and I’m getting more and more anxious and then we begin.

It was like talking to a long lost friend. And I’m looking at my watch at ten to twelve and Peter doesn’t even blink, he just keeps on going. We don’t stop until twelve twenty. Whereupon Peter says he wants to continue to talk, but first he has to go to the bathroom. I figured that was it, but Peter came back and we talked for another hour, until I had to leave for some TV show. We were wrestling with the issues, it was so much fun.

Now this subsequent hour was not on mic, but there’s plenty here.

What it was like growing up in Australia, how Peter joined Midnight Oil. His experience in the government.

Whether you’re a fan of Midnight Oil or not, you’ll enjoy this. Peter’s the opposite of the traditional musician. He’s eloquent, thoughtful, passionate…I dug it, and you will too!

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